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Thursday, 25 September 2014

Insightful walk in nature

Yesterday I shared my realisation that more time outside in nature was needed to support my well being and creativity. I set out to rectify that when the day started with such a beautiful blue sky and aimed for the top of the hill behind my house (shown above).

What I hadn't expected was that the landscaping your life process I use in coaching session with clients would hijack the walk. The process uses nature as our teacher and many of the insights have been shared on YouTube.

One technique is to identify a situation you'd like more clarity on and then go for a walk and notice what you notice. In this instance I hadn't identified a situation but after 9 months as an interim category manager I was reflecting on 'what next'. Here's what I noticed...

You will see glimpses of light before you get where you're going (this was very welcome after 20 minutes of climbing and repeatedly thinking I was near the top when I wasn't!).

Flies flock together around sh!t (not sure there's much to say about this but it was a very clear insight at the time).

Seagulls will wait close at hand, and in anticipation, for the Farmer to continue ploughing the field.

Even if looks far away it's nearer than you think with social media (I tweeted this picture of the forth bridges (in the distance) to @forthroadbridge and they replied).

You can really see more of a situation when you step back and review it from a different perspective (this was the view of Burntisland, the Forth river and Edinburgh in the distance).

The best route isn't always the most well trodden - the left hand path was very much the safest option (on the way up I'd experienced a path that at times was lost to the encroaching cliff edge and at very acute angle - the left hand path led to a field)

I don't yet completely understand how these all relate to "what next?" - something about seeing the bigger picture, connecting with those further afield, not following the pack and being patient! Would love your take on these observations, and do let me know the outcome of your #landscapingyourlife walk(s).

Alison SmithInspiring change inside and out

See also my blog from a #landscapingyourlife walk with a coaching client about 'burning bridges'.

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Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach

Global procurement and business speaker, coach, consultant, facilitator, and trainer using unconventional tools (and a few conventional ones) to support individuals, procurement and organisations to break out of their comfort zones.

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“Alison has a strong passion and energy for what she does which was demonstrated in her ability to run an innovative session for my team, (using a number of unconventional tools), that identified what was holding us back from being a high performing team. This ability, when coupled with her capability to bring fun into the session, was a powerful tool for helping my team realise their full potential.”

"Alison brings a unique blend of effective facilitation skills together with an in depth understanding of the corporate world. This enable her to subtly lead executives through the frameworks for change process (one of the unconventional tools she uses) that eliminates the barriers to moving forward and enables both individuals and teams to find the right track to improve performance, results and personal well being. I can highly recommend Alison to leaders who are looking for, and are prepared to explore something that is different but is so very effective.”